


Tell Me That You've Got Me

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, American AU, Boys Kissing, Coming Out, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Neighbors, Pining, kinda like it's discussed and overheard if that makes sense, that's all this is folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-08 20:56:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13466397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: In some ways, Harry felt like Louis was his older sibling as much as Gemma was. He certainly showed just as much affection as Gemma did. Whenever Harry would succeed in something they knew was difficult, both Gemma and Louis would celebrate by placing a loud, smacking kiss on Harry’s forehead.As they got older, Gemma pulled back her affections. She was tired of her brother constantly hanging around, and she found ways to elude him. Harry couldn’t blame her, really. The hardest part for him, though, was not being able to be around Louis as often.Louis never withdrew his physical affection like Gemma did, though. He continued giving Harry kisses on his forehead, much the same way he did with the ever growing number of younger sisters he had at home, to say hello and goodbye. Harry had come to rely on it. Gemma would bid him hello and goodbye with a soft smack on the side of his head, and Louis would kiss him wherever her hand had landed.Or the one where Harry was always Louis' best friend's younger brother...until they grow up and once innocent forms of affection come to mean a little bit more.





	Tell Me That You've Got Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kiwikero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwikero/gifts), [hrrytomlinson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hrrytomlinson/gifts), [indiaalphawhiskey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/indiaalphawhiskey/gifts).



> HIIIIIII!!!! Happy belated birthday to the darling [Lauren](http://hrrytomlison.tumblr.com) and happy early birthday to the incredible [Keri](http://icanhazzalou.tumblr.com)! You're both amazing and I actually dunno that this fic is in either of your particular likes or dislikes...but I hope you enjoy it because I was thinking of both of you when I wrote it. haha (even if you don't, please lie to me, thank you). Happiest of birthdays, loves!
> 
> The fic was based off of an amazing prompt given by the fabulous [India](http://indiaalphawhiskey.tumblr.com) in our daddy chat, so the fic is also dedicated to her. I would give the prompt, but it would give away the entire fic, so I won't. lol
> 
> This fic was also written as part of an ongoing challenge using the book 1000 Feelings For Which There Are No Names for our prompts. To read the other fics written in this challenge, [click here](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/ShortFic_Challenge_For_Which_There_Is_No_Name/works). You can find more information on the challenge here and to reblog the masterpost on tumblr, you can [click here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/159679804243/1000-feelings-for-which-there-are-no-names-prompt).
> 
> My prompt was 123: The relief after the knuckle cracks.
> 
> Massive thanks goes out to [Emmu](http://londonfoginacup.tumblr.com) for letting me babble at her as I "brainstorm" and to the most amazingest fastest last minute beta ever [Mollu](http://becomeawendybird.tumblr.com)! As always, all remaining mistakes are my own.
> 
> The title comes from Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne. This is a work of fiction, please don't share with anyone associated with the band, etc etc etc. I hope you enjoy!!

Harry couldn’t remember a time before the Tomlinson family lived next door. The family was small, only the couple and Louis, when they moved in, but the family grew quickly after that. Maybe that was why Louis had always been an installment at the Styles house.

Louis and Gemma were fast friends, practically inseparable, and Harry was the annoying little brother who tagged along. Gemma would roll her eyes, even at the young age of six, whenever her brother had to tag along, but Louis never seemed to mind. 

In some ways, Harry felt like Louis was his older sibling as much as Gemma was. He certainly showed just as much affection as Gemma did. Whenever Harry would succeed in something they knew was difficult, both Gemma and Louis would celebrate by placing a loud, smacking kiss on Harry’s forehead.

As they got older, Gemma pulled back her affections. She was tired of her brother constantly hanging around, and she found ways to elude him. Harry couldn’t blame her, really. The hardest part for him, though, was not being able to be around Louis as often. 

Louis never withdrew his physical affection like Gemma did, though. He continued giving Harry kisses on his forehead to say hello and goodbye, much the same way he did with the ever growing number of younger sisters he had at home. Harry had come to rely on it. Gemma would do so in her own way, with a soft smack on the side of his head, and Louis would kiss him wherever her hand had landed.

The less time they spent together meant Harry regarded Louis as less of a sibling and more just a regular fixture in their house. It made those few years when Harry’s body began to defy him and start acting  _ strangely _ even more difficult, really. Sure, he had his privacy and his own friends to hang out with and he was busy with homework and his own after school activities, but while his friends were thinking about how cute Keri was or how nervous they were to ask Lauren to the dance, Harry found himself laying in bed every night dreaming about Louis.

It was confusing for a time, but one night Harry heard Louis crying with Gemma in her room. Concerned something had gone wrong, Harry walked over and was just about to knock on her door when he heard Louis say the words that would change everything for him.

“I like boys, Gem.”

Harry rushed back to his room and closed the door before his knees went weak and he sank to the floor.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and hung his head between his legs. He needed to get his breathing under control so he could get his brain working again.

Heart still beating wildly in his chest, Harry finally felt like he had enough control to let his legs stretch out in front of him and let his head fall back against the door.

Louis liked boys. Louis liked...oh God. Up until now, Harry had been ignoring the fact that it wasn’t so much Demi Lovato or Katy Perry that he was focusing on so much as Chad Michael Murray or Patrick Dempsey. He had been able to just shrug it off and not think about it more, but hearing Louis say those words out loud made Harry consider himself more seriously.

Harry also liked boys. In particular, Harry very much liked Louis.

Harry let out a soft whine and covered his face with his hands. After taking a few more deep breaths, Harry stood up and walked over to the mirror hanging on his bedroom wall. He took his time and really looked at himself, cataloguing what he saw. 

He felt like he looked pretty good for a sixteen year old. He was in pretty good shape because of the running he liked to do, but he did still have baby fat that stubbornly clung to his face and hips. He also felt like he should look different having finally come to this life-changing understanding of himself, but he looked exactly the same. His hair was maybe a little more frizzy than usual, but that was it.

Harry let out a big breath that made his lips flap a little as he cracked his knuckles. At least the release of pressure from the pops his fingers let out gave him some form of relief while he considered his options. 

Louis was a senior. He was eighteen and getting ready for college. Harry was just his best friend’s scrawny younger brother. There wasn’t really anything for Harry to do in order to win him over, but at least now he knew he had a chance.

The wheels in Harry’s head seemed to be working at double speed. He would wait out his time. Hopefully his body would be kind to him and Louis would somehow stay single. Harry had faith that one day his chance to win over Louis would come, and when it did he hoped he would have the courage to act.

When Louis left that night, eyes still slightly swollen from the heart to heart he’d had with Gemma, Harry noticed for the first time that he was almost the same height as Louis. He made sure to duck down in order to make it easier for Louis to place his goodbye kiss on his forehead. The gentle press of Louis’ lips against his temple had never been filled with so much promise for Harry before, and he prayed that hope never left.

 

*~~***~~*

 

Louis couldn’t believe it had been almost a year since he’d seen Gemma. Well...Gemma and Harry. 

Louis rolled his eyes at himself. It had been ages; he thought he’d be over his school boy crush on Harry by now. Obviously he had an issue letting things go, especially since Harry definitely was not interested in Louis.

Rolling his eyes, Louis rolled the last bag of belongings he brought back with him from school to the door. As he opened it he heard...silence. Louis closed his eyes in relief and just stood in the entryway, smiling. His sisters would be at school for another few hours still, though Lottie would probably be getting home any minute. She got off earlier than the others that were in elementary and his mom was still at work. Perfect time for him to slip over to see Gemma.

Louis dropped his bag and brought in the others that were still waiting on the porch. Once they were in a somewhat convenient pile, he skipped next door and walked right in.

“Hey, everyone!” Louis called as he kicked off his shoes. “Your long lost family member has returned.”

“Lou?!” Gemma’s voice screeched from upstairs and suddenly there was a blonde bullet crashing down the stairs and throwing herself into his arms. “Oh my God! I can’t believe you’re finally home!”

Louis wrapped his arms tightly around his best friend and rocked her back and forth. “I can’t either. It’s been too fucking long.”

“Eew, you smell disgusting,” she said as she swatted at his shoulder and tried to pull back. Louis just laughed harder and held on tighter. 

“I bet you’d smell better after a three hour flight and an hour drive from the airport?”

Gemma finally removed herself from his hold and smoothed down her shirt. Giving a haughty sniff she said, “Course I would. I actually wash myself daily.”

Louis’ eyebrows furrowed and he clutched at his chest like in pain. “Ouch! God, it’s like you don’t even care that it’s been over a year since you’ve seen me. You just get right back into your routine of beating me up. I need a new best friend.”

“Shut up, you love me,” Gemma said as she walked toward the kitchen. 

Louis went past where she’d paused by the fridge and threw himself onto the couch. “Grab me something to drink, por favor?”

“I’m not your damn slave, Louis. Why do you want me to do everything for you?”

A cold bottle of water dropped right onto Louis’ stomach, surprising him before it crashed to the floor. “Help! I’m being attacked!”

“Need me to save you from my sister, Louis?”

Louis froze. Holy shit. That couldn’t be Harry, right?

He forced himself up onto his elbows and peered over the back of the couch. Louis nearly swallowed his tongue. Louis had done a year at the community college Gemma was attending before he decided he wanted to go into the economics program at a bigger university for his sophomore year. He’d watched Harry slowly start to lose his baby fat and grow a little taller over that year, but in the year that he’d been gone it was like Harry had become a completely different person.

In front of him stood...well. His wet dream. He’d always thought Harry was a good looking guy, but now he made Louis harden a little in his shorts. He hadn’t anticipated that. He was so tall and broad and...shirtless. Why was he shirtless? And were those tattoos on his arm as well? Pair all of that tan skin and those muscles and the tattoos with his voice that had deepened by about an octave and Louis wasn’t sure he was going to be able to function properly.

A pillow hit the back of Louis’ head knocking him out of his daze. 

“Stop looking at Harry like that. It’s freaking me out.”

Louis’ eyes widened and he looked at Gemma in shock. “How exactly am I looking at Harry? I’m just...looking.”

Gemma raised an unimpressed eyebrow and turned on the TV. When Louis finally turned around to respond to Harry, he found the boy - man? - had walked back to the kitchen. Louis gave himself a moment to admire the fact that his back was just as nicely toned as his front. The way his muscles bunched and moved beneath the skin was mesmerizing, really. 

Louis blinked, bringing himself back to reality, and jumped off the couch to head towards the kitchen.

“Sorry I didn’t respond, you just surprised me. You’re all grown up now.” 

Louis folded his arms and leaned against the island as Harry took a swig straight from the bottle of lemonade. Shit. Harry really was going to be the death of him. Louis wasn’t going to be able to spend as much time over here this summer if he kept acting like this. Louis’ heart couldn’t take it.

Harry wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before putting the cap on the bottle and returning it to the fridge. He shrugged and gave Louis a shy smile.

“So, what. Suddenly I’m grown up because you skipped out of town for a whole year and now you don’t give me your welcome kisses anymore?”

Louis flushed a little. He couldn’t help it. That stupid fucking tradition he’d held onto for far too long, and now Harry was calling him out on it. Louis stood up and realized even if he stood on his tip-toes he couldn’t reach Harry’s forehead.

“Hi, Harry,” Louis whispered as Harry tipped his head forward. Louis popped up on his toes, gave him a quick forehead kiss, and then lowered himself again. Harry looked up through his eyelashes at Louis, soft smile on his face, and Louis’ heart began to race. Yeah. There was no getting over his crush now.

“Hey, Lou. Glad you’re home.”

Louis took in the soft green of Harry’s eyes before he answered back quietly, “Yeah. Me too.”

“Hey,” Gemma called from the living room, popping the bubble that had somehow formed around the two of them. “Isn’t your family supposed to be getting back home soon? They probably actually want you there and not just your shit piled by the stairs.”

“Excuse you,” Louis said as he turned around and leaned over the island so he could make eye contact with Gemma. “It’s piled by the closet, not the stairs.” 

Louis looked at the clock above the stove and saw it had somehow gotten close to 3:30 and that was when the rest of the girls got home from school. 

Louis sighed and said, “You’re right, though. I should get going.” Louis stood up and turned around to see Harry’s eyes quickly move up from around his bum to his face. Was Harry just checking him out? “I’ll see you later, Curly.”

Louis got up onto his toes again and Harry bent down just like before, but at the last minute Harry tilted his chin up and their lips met in a short, chaste kiss.

Louis’ eyes flew open even while his mind whirled trying to figure out when exactly they had closed. He dropped down onto his flat feet and stared at Harry in complete surprise. Harry was  _ smirking. _ Had he been planning this? Was this on purpose? What did it mean?

Before Louis could fully pull himself together again, his phone began to buzz. He looked at it and saw an image of Lottie cross eyed.

“Hey, Lotts,” Louis greeted, eyes back on Harry. Harry had bitten his lip, but otherwise stayed exactly where he had been.

Suddenly a cacophony of voices came through his phone and he pulled it away from his ear.

“Where are you?”

“We miss you!”

“You’re stuff is here but you’re not!”

“Come home!”

Louis gave an apologetic smile to Harry as he began to back away. He’d have to deal with this whole thing later, he hadn’t seen his sisters in ages and they were expecting him. Harry sadly waved goodbye and Louis turned to the front door to let himself out.

“I’ll be there in three…” Louis counted down as he jogged home, and suddenly they were all screaming. He really couldn’t wait to see them all again, but he needed to make sure to get back to talk to Harry about whatever had happened again as soon as he was able as well.

 

*~~***~~*

 

Harry threw himself onto his bed. He was such an idiot.

Why the hell had he actually  _ kissed _ Louis?

Harry groaned. He’d kissed Louis, and at first it had been everything he’d ever thought it would be. Louis’ lips were slightly dry, but perfectly soft, and when he’d pulled back and looked at Harry, sure he’d looked shocked but he hadn’t looked upset or disgusted. Harry thought it was in the bag, but then Louis just...left.

Sure, he left to be with his family that he hadn’t seen since they all went down to Mississippi to visit his grandma over Christmas, but still. He hadn’t even said anything before he left.

It felt like ages ago that Harry had made the promise to himself that, given the chance, he would try to get Louis to see him as more than just Gemma’s little brother. Now he’d gone and ruined it all because he couldn’t wait for a better opportunity.

Harry sat up and moved over to his bookbag. He hadn’t touched his homework yet. Not that it really mattered. He was already accepted into college and he had good enough grades to sail through the rest of the schoolyear, but he needed a distraction. Just as he sat down to work on his government reading, there was a soft knock on his bedroom door.

Confused, Harry stood up and walked over to find out who was there. His family never knocked, but Niall and Liam hadn’t said anything about coming over, either. Harry pulled the door open and his eyes widened when he saw Louis standing there. 

“Louis?” Harry asked, but Louis didn’t say a word. He came forward, wrapped his arms around Harry’s shoulders, and began to kiss him.

Harry didn’t question it, he couldn’t bring himself to for fear that Louis would stop and regret his actions, so he slowly wrapped his arms around Louis’ waist to pull him closer as Harry matched the pressure of Louis’ lips with his own. 

The kiss remained chaste, explorative almost in how tentative it was between them, until Louis pulled away slightly. He was still close enough that Harry could feel the puffs of his breath on his chin, and it only made him want more.

“Sorry, I should have said something first,” Louis said quietly. “But is this okay?”

Harry huffed out a laugh, wide smile breaking out. “Of course it’s okay. I’m the one who kissed you first down in the kitchen, remember?”

Louis shot back a wry grin before leaning in for another soft kiss that made Harry’s toes curl.

“Wanna talk about this? What it all means?”

Harry nodded then said, “Yeah. ‘Course. Just, maybe not right now? I’d really like to kiss you some more.”

Harry moved his hands to Louis’ hips and walked backwards, guiding both of them to his bed in order to get more comfortable. “Please tell me this is going to be the new hello and goodbye kiss?”

Louis chuckled before leaning in to kiss Harry’s forehead. He left a train of small, tender kisses across to his temple, along his hairline to the sensitive spot just below Harry’s ear, and then nipped at the corner of his jaw lightly. 

“Oh, I dunno. Maybe we could do both, depending on the kind of company we’re in.”

Harry felt tingles shoot down to his fingertips as he swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, sounds good.”

“Hey, Harry?” 

Harry opened his eyes and took in Louis with his soft fringe and ever bright blue eyes. He was always so beautiful, and Harry hoped by the end of the night to call him his.

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for making the first move.”

Harry smirked again, much like he had down in the kitchen, then pulled Louis towards him by his shirt. “Just kiss me, you fool.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please leave a kudos and nice comment. I'll particularly love you if you reblog my fic post found [here](http://lululawrence.tumblr.com/post/170094545568/lululawrence-tell-me-that-youve-got-me-by). hehe thank you!
> 
> Interested in helping support charities with fanfic? If you are, I could write a fic for you! Check out the info [here on Tumblr](https://1dfanworksforcharity.tumblr.com/post/174494969280/1d-fanworks-for-charity-auctions-for-lululawrence).


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